Grass routes

Saturday

Jun 8, 2013 at 12:01 AMJun 8, 2013 at 1:00 AM

Josh Krueger Daily News staff writer

NEWPORT, R.I. — When Lleyton Hewitt first began his professional tennis career, he wasn’t all that fond of grass courts. Now that he’s a seasoned veteran of the ATP World Tour, things have changed for the 32-year-old Australian.

“I learned to adapt my game to it and now it’s probably my best surface,” Hewitt said Friday during a telephone interview from London.

That’s a big part, he said, of his decision to return to Newport to play in the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, which will run July 8-14, for a second straight year.

The two-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1 was granted a wild card into last year’s tournament. His ranking dropped to 233 after he missed an extended period of time recovering from surgery on his toe.

Hewitt, as well as many other top players, played the Hall of Fame Championships last year as an opportunity to prepare for the Summer Olympics in London. With no Games this year, Hewitt’s decision to come back to Newport might come as a surprise to some. But he said his desire to play on grass as much as possible was a key factor.

“There are only four (grass-court) tournaments this time of year, and for me, I enjoy the surface,” he said. “It’s good for my body, good for my game. I’d prefer the year to be longer with grass-court tournaments.”

The grass-court season starts Monday, and Hewitt will have his first chance to get back on the surface at Queen’s Club.

On Friday, though, the tennis world was focused on Roland Garros and the men’s semifinals at the French Open. Even though guys like Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are his competition, Hewitt said he enjoyed watching their five-set match Friday morning.

“Unbelievable,” he said of Nadal’s 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7 (3) 9-7 victory. “Both players played great, especially toward the end when they’d been out there so long.”

Hewitt has experience doing television commentary, so he said he likes seeing the top players from somewhere other than across the net.

“I have a good appreciation for how these guys play,” he said.

Fans often like to compare athletes across generations, but Hewitt said he never ponders how the Lleyton Hewitt of 2001, who was ranked No. 1, might fare against the likes of Djokovic, Nadal or Roger Federer of today.

“That’s not something I really dwell on too much,” he said. “I’m still trying to put myself in good position to take these guys on.”

While few would pick today’s version to win a match against any of those superstars, Hewitt pointed out that, rare as it may be, they can be beaten by someone outside the top five.

“It can definitely happen. Nadal lost to (Lukas) Rosol in the second round at Wimbledon last year,” he said. “But those guys are so good in the clutch moments, in the fourth and fifth sets, and that’s the tough thing. It’s hard enough beating them in a best-of-three, let alone best of five.”

While Hewitt obviously isn’t the player he was 12 years ago, he said he still has no plans to end his Hall-of-Fame career anytime soon.

“When you’re retired, it’s for an awfully long time,” he said. “Coming back from the last five surgeries, once you are fully fit and the motivation is still there, it’s not in the back of your mind. I’m out there enjoying tennis and my body feels good.”

Clearly it was feeling pretty good last July, as well. Coming off his fifth surgery in four years, he entered the Hall of Fame Championships ranked No. 233 but jumped up to 150 after reaching the final, where he lost to John Isner in straight sets.

“More than anything, it was huge for my confidence after having surgery, to be able to bounce back and compete against the best players in the world,” Hewitt said. “It gave me confidence for the rest of the year and I was able to build on that. I was more confident heading into the Olympics and I played extremely well there.”

He reached the third round of the Olympic tournament at the All England Club, losing to Djokovic, and has been playing well ever since.

Ranked 86th in the world, Hewitt no longer needs wild cards to gain entry into tournaments, and certainly doesn’t need one for the Hall of Fame Championships.

“I’m looking forward too it,” he said of returning to Newport, which he first played in 1998, his first year as a professional. “I hadn’t been back for a long time. To come back last year, getting over the surgery, and go on and make the final and play well sort of got my year back on track.

“It was good to come back.”

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